Are we engaging in fashion freedom?

[Coder]

Do women have absolute fashion freedom? There will always be critics but yes they do.

I don't think they are as free as we think they are - but I envy their ability not to be questioned as we are. And that is what bugs me the most, IMHO. It isn't that they get to wear pants (euphemism), but that if they do they are not questioned.

At the end of the day I'm learning and have learned not to care about what others think, but occasionally family reminds me in one way or another. I think not worrying about what others think is a major component to fashion freedom.

[crfriend]

Even the most 'out there' of us probably is moderating our clothes due to our gender. Only when gender no long comes into question will male fashion freedom be reached.
Do women have absolute fashion freedom? There will always be critics but yes they do.

The only time gender has anything to do with adornment is when we're calling out the existing double-standard in Western societies. Other than that, it has precisely NO bearing and only serves to annoy people who get caught up in all the machinations that accompany it.

Can we please -- please -- decouple these notions from one another? It's long overdue.

[denimini]

- social conventions can be enforced by family through shunning or disapproval - if the choice is please family or wear what you want - there is a choice but it's not a freely made choice.

One could argue that financial constraints hinder freedom of choice. However we still do have the choice of alienating one's family and going bankrupt.

It does sound like a subject worthy of substantial philosophical navel gazing.
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... _of_Choice

[denimini]

....... it takes time to feel confident in wearing whatever you like and the more times you do it the more easier it is and you become more confident and it becomes fashion freedom.

At the beginning I was scared to go out in skirts, leggings and tights but one day I got so fed up and I walked out the house wearing leggings and I nearly had a panic attack. I did it and the more times I did the easier it was and I felt free. Not long after I joined this forum I went out in a pleated black skirt and black leggings and nobody cared what I was wearing and I got no ridicule. It felt great and I felt as free as a bird.

It is great when you realise that most constraints are within your own mind. It is also healthily satisfying to take the hard road and complete the journey successfully.

[Barleymower]

Do women have absolute fashion freedom? There will always be critics but yes they do.

I don't think they are as free as we think they are - but I envy their ability not to be questioned as we are. And that is what bugs me the most, IMHO. It isn't that they get to wear pants (euphemism), but that if they do they are not questioned.

At the end of the day I'm learning and have learned not to care about what others think, but occasionally family reminds me in one way or another. I think not worrying about what others think is a major component to fashion freedom.

I'm not sure I know what you mean Coder?
I perhaps I need some examples of clothes women don't wear from the male wardrobe?

[Jim]

Do women have absolute fashion freedom? There will always be critics but yes they do.

No, women do not have absolute fashion freedom many places. In this hot weather, I'm shirtless much of the time. My wife reasonably feels she needs to be more careful. The Illinois Constitution Bill of Rights says:

The equal protection of the laws shall not be denied or
abridged on account of sex by the State or its units of local
government and school districts.

But women have still got in trouble on Lake Michigan beaches and lost their court cases. Maybe they didn't have good lawyers--it seems clear to me.

[Coder]

I'm not sure I know what you mean Coder?
I perhaps I need some examples of clothes women don't wear from the male wardrobe?

Well - I know my post was a bit, erm, referring to men wearing traditionally women's things - but that's not really the point I was trying to get to.

It's not just "why can't a man have the freedom to wear a skirt" (hint - he has that freedom - but may not realize it), or about a woman having the freedom to wear something that is traditionally men's.

Women set rules on what clothes other women can wear and how - there are social structures in place that limit their freedom. Perhaps Lucy (fictitious person) is a maximalist - she likes bold colors, funky patterns, and weird hats. She might not feel like she can wear those clothes - so she wears female drab, whatever that may be - leggings and a sweater perhaps. Or Bob (again, fake person). Bob would like to wear a pair of plaid pants... but knows his friends would make fun of him. He feels trapped - and so wears jeans.

I'm not quite advocating a free for all - "there is a time and a place" for casual to formal wear.

[crfriend]

I'm not quite advocating a free for all - "there is a time and a place" for casual to formal wear.

This brings up another problem. Increasingly there's nothing but "casual" anywhere in general society, and this is having the effect of dumbing the population down in terms of understanding how to put good-looking outfits together.

[Barleymower]

No, women do not have absolute fashion freedom

Jim nobody has absolute fashion freedom. I agree.
Women do however have 100% access to the male designated wardrobe (if there is one).

This is point I'm making here. Men should have unhindered access to the female designated wardrobe.

[crfriend]

Men should have unhindered access to the female designated wardrobe.

More to the point, "wardrobe curiosity" should not be classified as being prurient or deviant. That's what I've been going on about for weeks.

[Grok]

"Wardrobe curiosity"-good phrasing!

[jamie001]

Men should have unhindered access to the female designated wardrobe.

More to the point, "wardrobe curiosity" should not be classified as being prurient or deviant. That's what I've been going on about for weeks.

100 percent agree with that statement. The problem is that Hollywood keeps perpetuating the stereotype that men wearing articles of women’s clothing are perverts. In addition, the super flaming three alarm fire drag queens in the pride parades that look like Tammy Faye Baker also tend to perpetuate that stereotype. Even though I am gender nonconforming, these pride parades make me barf.

How can we combat this problem?

[Coder]

Men should have unhindered access to the female designated wardrobe.

More to the point, "wardrobe curiosity" should not be classified as being prurient or deviant. That's what I've been going on about for weeks.

Oh, I like that! I think that's a catchy way to put it. Maybe "Wardrobe curious".

[crfriend]

Oh, I like that! I think that's a catchy way to put it. Maybe "Wardrobe curious".

Same term, just slightly different tense.

Note that it has no bearing on gender, sex, or sexuality -- that's the important component. Face it, the only times factors such as those are even remotely relevant is if one is looking for an intimate relationship. It can be safely ignored otherwise.

[steamman]

Women are currently in a better societal position than men are to wear what they want, but let’s not forget that women fought hard for those freedoms. Men have to do the same, and I sadly see little evidence of that happening. Men are their own worst enemies by self policing masculinity and keeping men in a narrow box. I hate it, and wearing a skirt and heels is me putting the finger up to it. I want to be me, not confined to Victorian drab nonsense that I never signed a contract for at birth by being born male.